St. Paul daily globe., 1887-11-11
A MURDER MYSTERY.
DR.. William Brown, Of Fridley, Evi'
IDENTIFY Assassinated.
A POSSIBLE CLUE F0UNI
The Connection Of the Flicker Family
Suspicious Which Are Freely
Expressed.

DR.. William Brown, of Fridley, the
postmaster and most prominent resi-
dent, was found lying in the woods
near his house Tuesday morning, un-
conscious and bleeding from a terrible
cash in the back of his head. He was
taken to his house at once and physi-
clans called, but they could do nothing
and Mr.. Brown died inside of eight
hours, without once having regained
consciousness. The news soon spread
and inside of an hour the whole village
was in an uprOar. From all indications
the affair looked as though murder had
been done, and suspicion pointed to the
family of William Flicker, who reside
not far from the Brown residence. An
inquest was considered necessary by the
friends OF the dead man, and accord
lngly Coroner Sherman and County At
tOrney Bugber. of AnOka, were tele-
graphed for. They came down late in
the evening and early Wednesday morn
ing held an inquest, having for jury
ID. c. Tuthill, John Coleman, Thomas
Coleman, Michael Cases, Edmund Coffin
and Samuel Hunt. After a long and
searching inquest the jury returned a
verdict to the effect that Mr.. Brown
came to his death by blow in the back
of the head, inflicted by some one un-
known to the jury. The two Drs. Locke.
of Minneapolis, brOthers-in-law of
the dead man, will make much
fuller investigation, and endeavOr to
have the murderer brought to justice.
The inquest developed that early Tues
day morning Mr.. Brown went to Flick
er's place in search of a stray calf,
which had been claimed by Flicker, and
Which really belonged to Brown. What
took place at Ficker's barn is not quite
clear, but it is certain that Mr.. Brown
had not been struck at ten minutes to s,
while at the barn, for he was seen
later on leading the calf toward home,
by two ladies. 1t was soon after
they saw him that he was found. Dur
ing the inquest an old hatchet, found in
Ficker'S barn, was brought in to the
jury. One corner fitted in the wound
in DIR. Browns head to dot, showing
cOncluSlvely that it was with that or a
similar instrument that he had been
struck. Another strange thing was
that the hatchet, an old one, had been
freshly polished and all signs of dirt re-
moved. The Fickers were strangely
Indifferent to the death of DR.. Brown,
and remarks made by both Mr.. and
Mrs. Flicker give matters peculiar
look. Mrs. Flicker was taken in to see
the dead body, and on looking at it COW
cred her face and said:
If he BROWN had come to the house
and asked for the calf all would have
been well. Then there would have been
no fight and no trouble"
Soon after Mr.. Browns body was
found Mr.. Flicker was told by Black
smith McCreedy that he was dead,
whereupOn Flicker burst out:
"Let him go to HI. He won't come
over to my barn and take a calf away
from me again, anyway"
When it was first given out that there
would be an inquest held, Fickec and
his son Herman, seventeen years old,
left for this city, but were followed and
Brought back. The Flicker family but
recently removed to Fridley, and do not
bear an enviable reputation. Flicker
has even boosted to some of the resi-
dents of Fridley that he never let a
wrong go unavenged, and stated that he
had killed one or two men who had done
him an injury. The case is decidedly
peculiar one, and sensational de-
Steele, of this city, one of the physicians
who attended DR.. Brown, said yester-
day. that he was satisfied in his own
mind that member of the Flicker
family struck the blow that caused DR..
Browns death. Flicker, he said, kept a
halfway house at Medicine Lake some
years ago. He was known there, in the
popular phrase, as "badH man. He
was continually quarreling and finally
became so obnoxious that he was COM
PEELED by his neighbors to leave.
The doctor scOffed at the idea ad-
vanced by some that the calf threw DR..
Brown down, and that he cut his head
in fnllin1r